No one accidentally ends up at Big Bend, despite it being so large it sounds impossible to miss. At over 800,000 acres (1200 square miles) on the Texas/Mexico Border, you would think it would be readily accessible from all directions, but the vastness of our country is shockingly apparent when you realize how long and how far you have to drive, just to get to the entrances. We both felt very strongly that we wanted to see this remote gem on this year’s road trip, so we planned accordingly so that we could arrive and spend a full weekend in the park, taking in the natural beauty in its river, mountain, and desert forms. We even worked really hard to get the coveted and rarely available camping within the park itself, first staying in the Chisos Campground, a pleasant little village nestled in the heart of the geologically varied basin and surrounded by glory on all sides. Before getting to our first campsite, we spent the whole day in the park, arriving somewhere before 8 am.

(If I sound vague it’s because we ended up in a weird time vortex wherein we kept gaining and losing an hour as we were driving from Alpine, Texas to Big Bend. No, we didn’t cross time zones, and no it wasn’t daylight saving yet. It was a bizarre situation that left us a little fuzzy on the actual time. Then the next day, actual daylight savings once again played havoc with Larry’s devices updating, but mine stubbornly holding onto the hour. But I digress).

As I was saying, we arrived early in the morning and drove the Ross Maxwell scenic drive, stopping often and picking our jaws up from the ground, the surroundings were that staggering. We ended the scenic drive at the Santa Elena Canyon trail, which we of course had to climb. It was amazing. We were both so impressed with being on (over and in) the Rio Grande, and delighted in walking across over stones to see wild horses on the Mexican side. After a tasty lunch in Louie while gawping at roadrunners, we headed to the visitors center and consulted with the rangers. Based on their excellent advice we hiked the Lost Mine trail, a 5 mile round trip climb up well maintained switchbacks and absolute stunning scenery in every direction. It was very windy at times and got pretty cool pretty quickly as the sun set. But we made it to the tipity top. Then it was time to reward ourselves with a delicious steak, asparagus, and sweet potato dinner in Louie at the campsite. Larry set his alarm for 3am to attempt some dark sky photography, but the moon shone so brightly that he was only able to get a merely gorgeous photo of the night sky.

The next morning we woke late and enjoyed a luxuriously slow morning with a lot of coffee and stunning views out every window. We then made our way to the Chimney Trail, which was a 5 mile round trip hike through the desert to some rock formations with petroglyphs and pictographs. I was ecstatic. The hike was flat and exposed, but the temperature was lovely and there was a remnant of yesterday’s winds to keep the air moving. There were so many fascinating varieties of cactus, yucca, and other desert plants. The Ocotillo was just starting to bud up but we saw a couple well placed plants that were in bloom. Once back from playing in the desert we had another picnic lunch in Louie and made our way through the park to our next campground. This one had wild horses, donkeys, mules, and even javelina wandering amongst the tents and RVs. It made for a fascinating site. Before we settled in at camp we headed over to the Hot Springs village. There we stripped down to our swim suits and joined several other people in a square, concrete container that filled with the waters of the hot spring. It was on the edge of the Rio Grande, and it felt especially wonderful to sit on the ledge outside the hot spring and in the river, feeling the constant mix of hot and cold. It was so refreshing and relaxing. After a lengthy dip, we headed back to camp for dinner, a star-lit stroll, and a great night of sleep.

This morning we woke up, broke camp, emptied black and gray tanks and filled water and gas, then headed to our next destination of El Paso. To get from there to here we took a scenic highway 170 which was staggering and different yet from the landscape we had experienced. We continued on and stopped for lunch and a little visit in Marfa. We of course stopped at the Prada art exhibit on the way out. And now we are in El Paso for four days of working, choring, and planning our next destinations. Stay tuned. Meanwhile here are fifty pics from the weekend. They do not do it justice.